


Familiar

by FlOrangey



Category: Dragon Quest Series, Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Amnesia, Gen, Spoilers for Act 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 14:19:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16139018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlOrangey/pseuds/FlOrangey
Summary: Familiarity and Eleven brings Erik some peace after a confusing day.





	Familiar

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty much wrote this the moment I got to this point in the game because I'm weak for amnesia tropes. Might contradict some canon.

His name was… Erik. There was a familiarity to it that stuck with him even as the rest of his mind ran a blank on the rest of the who’s, what’s, and where’s that plagued him for however long they did. He wasn’t sure, there was a period of time he could barely remember one day from the other. They all just blurred together as he did the same running, hiding, and fighting he had done since he first woke up.

The only thing he knew was he had to survive. He needed to survive and he needed to do whatever it took to do that.

Now he was on a ship - a bright, colorful, ship - In a room draped in reds, greens, and purples. The bed he was sitting on had a thick blanket and fluffy pillows. He felt like the appearance should have brought him some comfort, but his hands would not stop shaking. He could not stop thinking about what had been going on just an hour or two ago. He snuck onto a ship desperate for food only to run into people who were at first surprised, then relieved to see him.

They knew his name. Erik. They used it casually. The guy dressed like a jester almost smothered him in a bear hug. He would need to apologize later for almost turning his knife on him.

When everything started to calm down, the old man whose name escaped him brought him to one of the rooms and told him to settle in and get some rest. They were going to get dinner started so he could have a decent meal instead of stuffing his face with whatever he could find. So far Erik had not succeeded in the resting part. Disjointed thoughts ran through his mind. He almost expected them to throw him overboard or desert him on an island.

Or maybe they weren’t people after all and he was so starved he was hallucinating and was on a ship full of monsters that were going to cook and eat him instead. The thought made his stomach turn, but he shook his head. If that were the case he'd be dead by now. But that did not mean he was out of danger. Something could be around the corner...

Survive. He needed to survive because...he had no idea but he had too. Something he needed to do. Something important.

He jumped, shaken from his thoughts as he heard a knock on the door. “Erik?” Someone called. Male voice, soft-spoken, friendly. He could almost picture the face.

“C-come in.” He said. The door opened slowly and the person stepped in. He was clothed in purple and had longish brown hair that framed his face and made his blue eyes stand out in the room. His name was at the tip of Erik’s tongue. “You’re...Eleven, right?”

Eleven looked a little surprised, then his face fell as though understanding Erik’s confusion. “Yeah.” He said then tried to smile, “You feeling more at home?”

He wasn’t, but Erik decided not to say that. The boy was being nice to him. They all had been nice when - far as he was concerned - they had no reason to be nice. He could give them a little kindness in return. “A little? This wasn’t exactly how I planned my day to go.” He answered. He wasn’t lying, the last thing he expected was to run into people who knew who he was. He noticed the tray Eleven was carrying in his hands. “Is that dinner?”

The boy blinked and looked down at the tray. He smiled and nodded, “Rab and Jade wanted you to join us, but Sylvando thought you might want to eat in our room. He asked me to bring this.”

Erik blinked. There was so much information in that sentence Erik did not know and was not sure where to start. Rab? Jade? Their room? Sylvando? That last one clicked somewhere…

“Sylvando’s the guy in the circus outfit, right?” He asked. He saw the smile on Eleven’s face widen as he nodded. He walked over and he took a seat next to Erik, putting the tray down between them. There were two large bowls of cream stew loaded with vegetables and meat and a plate with slices of bread on it. Erik stared at the meal, swallowing the saliva forming in his mouth. “L-looks good.”

Eleven lifted one of the bowls and handed it to him. “It’s still hot, so be care-.” Before he could finish, Erik had grabbed the bowl and the largest spoon on the tray. He scooped up as much stew as he could and stuffed it into his mouth.

He soon realized that was a mistake. His face turned red as he felt his mouth and throat burn up. He kept his mouth closed, but cried, eyes watering from the heat. When he swallowed he felt like his throat was being set on fire. He coughed. “Hot!” He coughed again, putting his hand to his throat.

“Tried to warn you,” Eleven said. He took a glass of water off the tray and handed it to Erik. “Here.”

Erik took the water and drank most of it down. He coughed again, then cleared his throat. “Thank you.” He muttered, not wanting to look at the other boy. He was sure his face was still red, though less from how hot the stew was and more from embarrassment. Eleven’s response was to simply shake his head.

“I know you’re hungry, but don't eat so fast.” He said, “We just got you back. It’d be bad if you got sick or something.”

Just got him back. The words hit harder than they probably were supposed too. Erik gave a simple nod and scooped up some more stew. This time he blew on it to cool it a little before taking another bite.

The two ate in mostly silence. Erik went through not just his bowl, but also the majority of the bread. When he was done, the bowl was sitting near him and his hand was on his stomach. “That was good. My compliments to the chef.” He said. Eleven simply smiled and began to clean up. He was ready to bring everything back to the kitchen when Erik spoke, “So, Sylvandro’s the jester looking guy.”

Eleven nodded, leaving Erik to try and think, “Then Rab is...the old man? And Jade’s..the girl with the ponytail?” Eleven nodded again. “So who’s the guy who looks all serious?”

“Oh, that's Hendrick.”

Hendrick. He sighed. So many names, but he’d try and get them straight as soon as he could. “So, we all know each other or something, right? Were we traveling together?”

Eleven nodded again, then tried his best to explain. “Not all at once. You and I have been on the road since we were run out of Heliodor. The others joined us after.”

Heliodor. Erik had heard of Heliodor, but last he checked it was overrun by monsters. Were they refugees from there? Did they get separated during an attack? He wished what Eleven had told him made sense, but it just made him more confused. That confusion must have been obvious. “You really don't remember anything.”

Erik looked away from him. He felt the bed shift a little. Eleven had gotten up and was moving the tray to a desk on the other side of the room.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered. He put a hand to his head. He felt Eleven’s eyes on him then saw the boy sit down next to him.

“Don’t be.” Eleven said, “It’s not your fault you can’t remember.”

“But still.” He shook his head, “It’s so strange. I’ve been on the road for I'm not sure how long and suddenly I'm surrounded by people who claim to know me. Are you sure you have the right Erik? You aren’t just mixing me up with someone else?”

“I only know one Erik and he has spiky blue hair and dresses in green.” Erik brought his hand up to his head, then looked down at his clothes. They were dirty, but they were green.

“Well, when you put it like that…” He trailed off falling quiet. He had no idea what to say. His head was filled with questions but he wasn't sure where to even start.

“Erik,” Eleven said getting him to glance at the teenagers. His eyes looked like they were staring into his soul. “What’s the first thing you can remember?”

The first thing he could remember. It was better than asking what the last thing he could remember was, but still hard to answer. He looked down at the floor as he tried to think. The first thoughts that came to mind were the jumbled messes of fights with monsters. Then constant running. That time he mugged a guy with a knife so he could get some medicine because it was either that or die of a growing infection. So much running, so many monsters, all becoming more violent with each passing day.

His breath hitched and his shoulders tensed. Then felt a hands on him and he jumped. He looked up to see Eleven had moved a little closer. One hand was on his shoulder, the other on his back. “Easy. I'm right here.”

His voice was calm and assuring. Erik felt Elven begin to rub his back, the up and down motion soothing him. Erik took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The movement helped calm his confused thoughts and for the first time in a while, he started to feel more calm and relaxed. His breathing steadied and with it his thoughts.

This man was not lying when he said he was a friend. Fire and smoke came to mind and he opened his eyes. He let out a breath he did not realize he was holding and looked at Eleven.

“It’s blurry but, fire and rubble.” He said. “It was like there was a landslide or some kind of earthquake. Trees were burning, some were toppled over. I kinda remember having to crawl out from under some rocks and branches.”

He paused and waited for Eleven to say or do something. When the boy motioned for him to continue he shook his head.

“I know I got out of there, but honestly I’m not sure how. The only other thing I remember after that is waking up in a church. I guess I walked their or something and passed out. After… it’s kinda just a lot of moving around, foraging, and fighting monsters. Lotta living in the woods, lotta not sleeping.” He sighed, “Pretty sure I stole and sold a few things to get money for an inn now and again…”

“Well, you are a thief,” Eleven said. Erik’s eyes widened.

“A thief?” He repeated. Eleven nodded. “...I guess that explains a few things. Like how I know how to pick locks and pickpocket people…weird that I remember those things. So wait, if I was a thief, are we like a thief guild or something?”

Eleven blinked, then shook his head. “No, uh, more like you’re a former thief.” He explained. Erik frowned. Now he just felt more confused, but he thought a little more. After several seconds of silence, a serious look crossed his face. “How things are in the world right now, this isn’t normal, is it.”

It wasn’t a question. Eleven shook his head, “It’s not.” He said, “Does the name ‘Yggdrasil’ mean anything to you?”

“Yggdrasil…” It did sound a little familiar. “I think I heard people talking about it now and again. Come to think of it, I think someone mentioned things ‘going bad’ because I guess it fell or something. But what it is, I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

Eleven nodded then after some hesitation asked his next question, “What about ‘The Luminary’? Anything?”

Another difficult question, but Erik guessed Eleven was trying to get an idea of what he knew and what he didn’t. He thought about it for a bit, then shrugged. “I’ll admit, Luminary sounds more familiar than Yggdrasil. When I think of it I think someone I’m supposed to be helping, but why I have no idea.” He looked at Eleven, then his eyes fell on his hand. A frown crossed his face as he noticed a mark on the boy’s hand. “That mark…”

He stared at it for a while, then winced and brought his hand to his head. “Erik?” Eleven asked. It took a bit for Erik to answer. For a split second the room felt like it was spinning and it was too bright. He could have sworn he heard something, words from a past memory. Then in a blink, they were gone. He shook his head.

“Sorry. I’m starting to feel weird.” He said then chuckled, “Guess even pacing myself I still got a bit sick.”

Eleven gave him a reassuring smile. He moved his hands off Erik’s back and shoulder as the boy shifted so he was facing him. “You know it’s weird. I was scared because I didn’t know anyone what was going on, but right now, I feel kinda okay. I’m still not sure what’s going on, but I think being with you guys I’ll figure that out.” He paused as his head tilting as he stared at Eleven. “It really does feel like I’ve talked to you before. Now that I think about it, we must have talked a lot.”

His words got a grin to crossed Eleven’s face. “Almost every night. We became good friends while traveling together.”

Friends. It sounded right. Erik chuckled, “You know what I believe it.” He could not help but laugh a little, and it surprised him. It was the first time he had really smiled or laughed in, well, as long as he could remember. But as he settled down, he felt his eyes became heavier. He brought his hand up and yawned. “Guess all this excitement is taking it out of me...”

“You also ate for two people.” Eleven reminded him. Erik’s only response to that was a shrug. “Maybe get some sleep? We should be safe for a while.”

Safe. He really did feel safe and realizing that made him finally drop his guard. He was exhausted and sleep sounded like a great idea. “When I wake up, you’ll tell me about this Luminary and Yggdrasil business right?” He asked.

Eleven nodded, “Promise.” He said. Erik nodded. He moved to lie down but stopped. There was something that made him hesitate. He looked at Eleven. “You guys aren’t going to leave me behind right?”

He saw Eleven’s eyes widen, but then the boy relax. He thought for a second, then without any prompting kicked off his boots and laid down on the bed. “Lie down.” He said. Erik nodded and took his shoes off. He then grabbed the blanket resting at the foot of the bed and laid down, pulling it over him.

The pillow underneath him was the most comfortable pillow he had ever laid his head on. “This is nice.” He muttered, closing his eyes, only to crack one open when Eleven joined him. His friend was smiling, and Erik found himself smiling back, “I guess that’s a no.”

Eleven didn’t answer, but the smile on his face told Erik more than enough. He closed his eyes again and felt himself relax. Eleven listened as Erik’s breathing evened out. He heard a murmur and saw his friend shift a little, but then he became still and quiet, the only sound being soft breathing as his friend slept deeply. Eleven brought a hand to his friends face. Erik was exhausted and needed to rest. He brought the hand down and stared up at the ceiling.

He had a lot to tell his friend and was positive he’d be explaining a lot of confusing details - which were already hard enough to explain as it was, but hopefully, something in his story would trigger his friends lost memory. Until then though, he was just happy Erik was alive and back with them.


End file.
